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Topic: Keystone Kapers II Found! (Read 664 times)

Here's the never before seen footage of Keystone Kapers 2, also known as Keystone Cannonball. Programmer Dan Kitchen recently unearthed the prototype and donated it to the National Videogame Museum. Note some of the amazing features of the time - 8 moving train wheels and multiple layers of parallax scrolling. Enjoy!

"I’m rewriting the game from scratch so the new game will not be starring Keystone Kelly. It will be a physical cartridge release under the brand Tiki Vision Games. The original concept started as a generic train game. I’m a model railroader and wanted to make a side view game with different railroad cars. At the time my brother Garry had released Keystone Kapers and we thought using Keystone Kelly would be a cool addition to the game. The initial intent was to have Harry Hooligan transition from a petty department store thief to a full-fledged train bandit. However, before I had a chance to continue work on the game, the 2600 market experienced its downfall and I moved onto other games. The new version (has) two levels of gameplay, but the character will also be able to climb into some of the train cars like the box cars and Pullman Coach cars. The train will be a runaway circus train with various exotic animals to avoid. Each level ends when the player locates a varying number of engine parts that have been scattered in and around the train cars and makes their way to the locomotive to stop the train before time runs out."

I thought to share these here. Dan Kitchen just posted over at Atari Age and he answered some questions that I think people may be interested in:

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1) When do you anticipate Keystone Kapers 2 and Bon Voyage to be available to purchase?

DK - I expect Keystone Kapers 2 to be available for purchase in November of this year. Bon Voyage before Christmas.

2) Will they be complete box/cartridge/manual releases?

DK - Yes, I plan to have the games available in complete boxes with manuals. I'll also have Activision patches available for high score plateaus.

3) Do you ever plan to release the ROM for the original Keystone Kapers 2, for us collectors that are interested in it from a historical perspective?

DK - Yes, after Keystone 2 is released I'll make the prototype ROM image available.

4) Were you working on any other games that weren't released, or did you have ideas for games you never had the time to begin programming for?

DK - Yes actually. At Activision I had a complete game we called the "Levee Game". Keystone Kelly appeared in a yellow rain slicker running around ladders and platforms repairing cracks that would appear in a background Hoover Dam-style image complete with warning lights and a beautiful sun setting on the distant reservoir . The screen kernels were written such that I could change the background color on every scan line so the entire screen would slowly fill up with water if the player couldn't cement the cracks in time. There was also a mechanic to "empty" the water on the player's side of the dam to keep the game going. I'm hopeful that I can locate a ROM of that game in the future.

I do have other games I plan to release early next year and will have information about these next titles later in the year.